
2015-03-30 : Thales Ang nieux aboard NASAs Dawn mission
Thales Ang nieux aboard NASA's Dawn mission
Cr dit Photo NASA/ JPL Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Thales Ang nieux has been a key partner in NASA's programmes since the successful Ranger 7 and Apollo 11 missions of the early 1960s. Today, it continues to be closely involved in the U.S. space agency's space exploration programme. Two Ang nieux 150-mm-focal-length lenses are on NASA's Dawn probe that recently obtained the first images of the dwarf planet Ceres, after those of Vesta in 2011.
Dawn is the 9th mission of NASA's Discovery programme
Dawn's mission is to study the asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres, two protoplanet remnants of the formation of our Solar System that lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The significant feature of these two distant bodies is that they are virtually unchanged since their formation 4.6 billion years ago. The 1,300-kg probe's three scientific instruments are designed to image and map Vesta and Ceres, analyse their gravity field and acquire spectral measurements of the abundance and distribution of rocks on their surface, as well as any significant traces of chemical elements. Dawn was launched on 27 September 2007; it then completed a flyby of Mars in February 2009 before reaching Vesta in July 2011, which it studied up close for a year. It arrived at Ceres in February this year and has already sent back incredibly detailed pictures of the dwarf planet. In particular, images acquired on 19 February show two tantalizing bright spots on its surface. Dawn reached orbit around Ceres on Friday 6 March. Its mission is scheduled to end in July.
Demanding specifications for the probe's Ang nieux optics
In 2005, Thales Ang nieux delivered four lenses to German firm Kayser Threde for the Max Planck Institute (MPI), responsible for Dawn's top-tier framing camera subassembly. Two of the lenses were designed for integration with the system and two for testing and preparation. Thales Ang nieux had to meet the challenge of supplying lenses capable of satisfying the mission's particularly exacting thermal constraints ( 50 C, +40 C) while withstanding the rigours of space (vacuum conditions, radiation and launch-vehicle vibrations on lift-off). Drawing on its experience from previous projects working with NASA, Thales Ang nieux designed lenses that fully met these specifications. Employing the principle of passive athermalisation, Ang nieux's lenses are able to acquire clear, sharp pictures in any temperature conditions. Special types of glass were used to withstand radiations, notably gamma rays. The lenses' titanium body offered the best resistance to launch vibrations. Also aboard Dawn's space probe, a Traveling-Wave Tube (TWT) with an X bandwidth for scientific telecommunications (ref. TH 4300C) provided by the Thales group, first worldwide supplier of TWT for satellites and space probes.
Thales is also involved in NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL) is the most ambitious ever to land on the surface of Mars. Thales's Optronics Business Line, to which Thales Ang nieux is attached, supplied the laser for the ChemCam instrument on MSL's Curiosity rover. This laser employing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technology is fired at rock targets to generate a plasma that is then analysed by the rover's instruments to determine their mineral composition. ChemCam is a joint effort of the French space agency CNES (Centre National d' Etudes Spatiales) and the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Since Curiosity arrived on Mars in August 2012, the mission has entered its data-gathering phase.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
04/12/2025
Lightware, a global specialist in AV connectivity, is looking back on a year defined by new advancements, strong collaboration and continued growth. Across the ...
04/12/2025
Riedel Communications today announced a new partnership with Haivision, a leading global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and visual col...
04/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann Engineering today announced a major milestone in their strategic collaboration, celebrating 20 successful broadband deployme...
04/12/2025
Creative software developer Foundry today announced Mari 7.5, the latest iteration of its artist-friendly paint toolset that can handle large, detailed assets w...
04/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), a leading provider of wireless audio solutions and RF management, was on site at Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco providing...
04/12/2025
LTN's purpose-built IP video network brings all-movie diginet to over 100 stations and streaming platforms in just three months while eliminating satellite ...
04/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-powered data a...
04/12/2025
The HELM, a global expert in cinematic live broadcast and high-end production workflows, has signed a partnership agreement with Keslow Camera, one of North Ame...
04/12/2025
At ISE 2026, LiveU will showcase its expanded IP-video EcoSystem, enabling broadcasters, sports, production companies and pro-AV professionals to share their st...
04/12/2025
Since the beginning of commercial television, advertising has been a key part of broadcasting. Over the years, the technology for inserting ads into programs ha...
04/12/2025
MUNICH and MILAN Warner Bros. Discovery said HBO Max is expanding into Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein on Jan. 13, 2026, and ...
04/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO AudioShake has launched its first streaming-capable software development kits (SDKs) designed specifically for real-time music detection and copyr...
04/12/2025
NASHVILLE The mobile and REMI production company TNDV has announced that it headed south into Mexico to live-produce the three-day 2025 Zane Grey Championship P...
04/12/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Hollywood Professionals Association Executive Director Phil Kubel has stepped down from the organization to pursue new opportunities, the group ...
04/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission said it has closed 2,048 inactive proceedings, the largest number of dormant dockets ever terminated in a singl...
04/12/2025
A new tech blog from Netflix highlights the importance of the AV1 open video codec, which now powers about 30% of the platform's streaming and discusses a v...
04/12/2025
Thursday 4 December 2025
Sky set to co-produce the story behind the world's most famous whale
Image Credit - Free Willy Keiko Foundation
Sky will co-pro...
04/12/2025
Thursday 4 December 2025
Sky Original documentary Murder at the Post Office to ...
04/12/2025
Back to All News
Hugo Silva, Leonor Watling, Esther Acebo and Gorka Otxoa Star ...
04/12/2025
Back to All News
Step Inside the World of Troll 2: VFX Breakdown Featuring Dire...
04/12/2025
OBJECT MATRIX
OverviewObject Matrix
OM Cloud
Quattro
SWARMOverviewSwarmSingle Node Swarm
Ngenea
Pixstor
Swarm Support
Object Matrix Support
Pixstor & N...
04/12/2025
FOX Advertising Announces Plans for 2026 Upfront Presentation Annual Presentation for Advertisers to Take Place Monday, May 11 at New Location, the Historic N...
04/12/2025
Developers, researchers, hobbyists and students can take a byte out of holiday s...
04/12/2025
The ninth series of Dancing with the Stars returns to screens in early
2026 and will be proudly sponsored by Hyundai
Filling our Sunday evenings with glitz an...
04/12/2025
GeForce NOW is decking the digital halls with 30 new games to keep spirits high all month long.
Join the fun with Hogwarts Legacy, the LEGO Harry Potter Collec...
04/12/2025
Scientists find cancer weak spot in backup DNA repair system New findings from Scripps Research reveal how certain tumors survive DNA damage and point to a stra...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2025 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2025 is a Single Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-t...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2025 is a Single Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and ...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...